Whitfield Estate, Herefordshire

Whitfield is a rural estate in south Herefordshire that leases a wide variety of residential and commercial property and produces high quality timber and holly.

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Kilpeck Castle

The site and ruins of Kilpeck Castle are easily accessible beside the famous Norman Church. The site consists of a motte of approximately 50m diameter surrounded by three baileys and their accompanying ditches. A further bailey to the north was noted in 1931 but this has subsequently disappeared. On top of the motte there are two fragments of a shell keep wall about 5m high.

The castle is thought to have been built circa 1090. Although already ruinous it was used in the Civil War and was subsequently slighted to prevent re-use. The castle was bought with its surrounding farmland in the mid-19th century and has since formed part of the Whitfield Estate.

The stonework and mound were stabilised in 2013. The archaeological report was printed in the Woolhope Club, Transactions, 2013, pp. 112-115.